Presbyopia

Before the age of 45-50yrs, the eye is a ‘dynamic’ system that can change its focal point and bring objects into focus at different distances from the eye.

It does this by spontaneously changing the shape of the human lens inside the eye, a process called accommodation. The eye has two powerful lenses (cornea and human lens) that focus the light onto the retina to allow us to see. When we reach our mid-forties, the lens becomes stiffer and loses the ability to change shape and thus it cannot focus on objects within a 1 metre radius from the eye. This makes the system ‘static’ and is why we need reading glasses to bring close objects into focus. 

Surgical treatment for presbyopia may involve treatment to either the cornea (laser eye surgery) or the lens (refractive lens exchange).